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| If you have a problem reading this email, please click here to see the web page version You received this email because you signed up for it at OpEdNews. Unsubscribe instructions are at the bottom of this email. I'm excited. This pope Francis could change things.
It'll take a lot. I've long thought
the Catholic Church, through it's leadership and stances, has been one
of the most evil forces on the planet. This new pope could be changing
things. It could be huge. Let's hope he stays alive long enough.
Frank Schaeffer nails it with his article.
and it inspired me to write this: his Pope Could Save the Catholic Church, And Maybe, America
I like to think that Opednews
provides voices for the people, who call out the problems in the world,
and who envision what a just, fair future for all can look like.
Please help us to keep it going.
best,
rob kall
Support Opednews. Make a tax deductible donation to make OEN Strong.  Daily Headlines
I'm excited. This pope Francis could change things.
House
Republicans narrowly approved a sweeping overhaul of the nation's food
stamp program Thursday that would slash about $39 billion in funding
over the next decade, cut aid to about 4 million Americans in the next
few years and shift the burden of providing aid to some of the nation's
poor to state governments. The GOP-backed plan differs sharply from a
bipartisan Senate proposal passed in June, and its passage will further
strain relations between the two chambers as they spend the next several
weeks toiling over a short-term budget deal and negotiating over
raising the federal debt limit.
The
pope just told the American Catholic religious right to shove off. He
said that the political game they've been playing on behalf of people
like the Koch brothers and Tea Party -- in the name of morality --
threatens, the moral structure of the Church.
The
decline of Atlantic City will not be reversed, and its casinos will be
imploded or abandoned soon enough. Under the boardwalk, there won't be
one but many blankets, quilts, tarps and pieces of cardboard, and on
them, folks will even make love as they almost taste french fries and
hot dogs.
Another
mass shooting has stunned America, although the sentiment is now more
numbness and hopelessness than outrage and resolve. The gun carnage will
probably never end unless the Right's bogus history of the Second
Amendment is exploded and the real intent of the Framers is explained.
While
Chelsea Manning faces many years in prison for the public disclosure of
documents to WikiLeaks, numerous high-level officials have never been
held accountable for the grave human rights violations committed during
the United States war on terror including kidnapping, extraordinary
rendition, indefinite detention and torture.
Watch
the video of the 90-minute event I did this week at the Sydney Opera
House on the war on whistleblowers and journalism, along with WikiLeaks
founder Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning's lawyer David Coombs, the
intrepid independent journalist Alexa O'Brien, and the Australian
commentator Robert Manne, hosted by the Australian writer Bernard Keane.
David
beat Goliath with the passage of Dodd-Frank. David beat Goliath when we
fought for and established a strong consumer agency. And David can also
beat Goliath on "too big to fail." Five years after the financial
crisis, we just have to pick up the slingshot again.
The
Fed's unprecedented pumping of trillions of dollars into the banking
system, essentially by printing money, has fueled a bonanza for the
ruling class, even as the real economy remains mired in slump and living
standards for the vast majority of the people stagnate or decline.
Russians
have heard me characterized as their antagonist. Since my purpose here
is to dispel falsehoods used by Russia's rulers to perpetuate their
power and excuse their corruption, let me begin with that untruth. I am
not anti-Russian. I am pro-Russian, more pro-Russian than the regime
that misrules you today.
On
September 4, 2013, James Comey became the 7th director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation. The first change in leadership at the bureau
since the 9/11 attacks provides Congress, the president, and the
attorney general the opportunity to conduct a comprehensive evaluation
of the FBI's post-9/11 policies and programs.
By Laurie Endicott Thomas
Low-Fat, Plant-Based Diet Protects the Prostate A low-fat, high-fiber diet helps prevent prostate enlargement and prostate cancer. It can even help to prevent the progression of existing prostate cancers.
The
process of Christianity separating from Judaism was a long and bumpy
road Once a unified Church was established in the fourth century efforts
at separation from Judaism accelerated on a number of fronts. Medieval
and Renaissance art contributed to the process by totally Christianizing
Jesus and his family while erasing their connection to Judaism. Today,
reconciliation is underway and art can contribute to that effort.
Michael McAlpine invented a 3-D printed bionic ear that enables super-human hearing.
By Will Fantle
Organic Industry Watchdog: FDA Food Safety Rules Threaten to Crush the Good Food Movement 
According
to a new white paper by The Cornucopia Institute, the FDA's draft rules
for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) are so off the mark that
they might economically crush the country's safest farmers while
ignoring the root threats to human health: manure contaminated with
deadly infectious pathogens generated on "factory" livestock farms and
high-risk produce-processing practices.
I
think most people look upon dolphins as the beautiful, docile creatures
they are. If so, then we should be enraged at what happens to many of
them in a village cove in Taiji, Japan.
By Karyn Strickler
What Do Ironman Triathlons and Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Have in Common? Ironman author and triathlete Karyn Strickler has dedicated her Sept. 21 Ultra Championship Triathlon to helping stop mountaintop removal coal mining. Her motivation? "For me this is about stopping mountaintop removal coal mining, for its own sake, and as a big step toward slowing climate change."
"If
Republicans and President Barack Obama were to fail to reach an
agreement to raise the nation's borrowing authority, that would be
"pretty damn dumb," said billionaire investor Warren Buffett in a taped
interview that aired on CNBC Friday."
Monday's
gun massacre at the Navy Yard in Washington, DC provides additional
evidence of the socially destabilizing nature of the deluge of
increasingly violent and bloody mass media product that passes for
entertainment in the USA.
In
recent months, the G.O.P. seems to have transitioned from being the
stupid party to being the crazy party. I know, I'm being shrill. But as
it grows increasingly hard to see how, in the face of Republican
hysteria over health reform, we can avoid a government shutdown -- and
maybe the even more frightening prospect of a debt default -- the time
for euphemism is past.
By Washington's Blog
Chemical Weapons Expert: U.S. Deadline for Syrian Chemical Weapons Is Contrary to International Law 
The
treaty will enter into force on the 14th of October; one month after
Syria deposited its instrument of accession [when they agreed in writing
to abide by the Chemical Weapons Convention]. And then Syria has one
month to submit its initial declaration, after which the inspectors go
in and they have two weeks to check everything out.
The
operator of the leaking Fukushima nuclear plant said Tuesday that it
dumped more than 1,000 tons of polluted water into the sea after a
typhoon raked the facility. Typhoon Man-yi smashed into Japan on Monday,
bringing with it heavy rain that caused flooding in some parts of the
country, including the ancient city of Kyoto. The problem has been
worsened by leaks in some of those tanks that are believed to have
seeped into groundwater and run out to sea.
Have
you ever thought about starting a new religion or perhaps a hometown
franchise of an old one? Religion is big business, and it can pay
really, really well. Creflo Dollar, founder of World Changers Church,
has an estimated net worth of $27 million. Benny Hinn comes in at $42
million. Squeaky clean tent revival pioneer Billy Graham bankrolled
around $25 million. Even Eddie Long who has been plagued by accusations
of sex with underage male members of his congregation can count his
bankbook in the millions.
Unless
the Catholic Church focuses on being a welcoming, healing place instead
of on doctrine about divisive issues, it will fail, the pope says.
By Bob Burnett
Obama's Economy: 6 Truths President Obama's September 16th speech on the economy was overshadowed by breaking news: the tragic shootings at the Washington Navy Yard. Nonetheless, it was an important address that contained six important truths.
By Dave Lindorff
We don't gas children, we shred them: Obama's Grotesque Hypocrisy over Cluster Munitions 
President
Obama cries over the deaths of children by Sarin gas, while presiding
over the slaughter of many more by US cluster bombs, which he would even
use against Syria, says TCBH! journalist Dave Lindorff
During
President Obama's run-up to war with Syria, "African Americans were,
for the first time in polling history, the most bellicose major
ethnicity in the United States." How could such a political
role-reversal come to pass? "The progressive, peace-seeking African
American worldview is out of sync with the deep imperative to support
the First Black President."
The recent agreement between the US and Russia vis a vis Syria only temporarily puts the brakes on US aggression.
Latest Articles
Our
new economic era is characterized by the supremacy of financial capital
which vacuums up the productive wealth of the nation, and then uses the
nation's wealth as an insurance policy to pay for its inevitable
losses. A call for Public Banking.
(Poem) Always try to Look up beyond Our time
life is beautiful Beauty to live with
Jennifer Mee, Florida "Hiccup Girl," Goes to Trial for Internet-Related Murder
Jennifer Mee, whom many remember as the "Hiccup Girl," is now being tried for the murder of Shannon Griffin, an Internet "Friend" who had hoped to purchase marijuana from Mee.
Building Real Peace
Building peace means more than protesting war. Nonviolent Peaceforce shows us how it's done in some of the world's most volatile trouble spots.
Tomgram: Kramer and Pemberton, Downsizing the Military Mission, Upsizing the Peacetime One
In the preface to his 1974 classic, The Permanent War Economy, Seymour Melman decried America's choice of guns over butter. He wrote: "Traditional economic competence of every sort is being eroded by the state capitalist directorate that elevates inefficiency to a national purpose, that disables the market system, that destroys the value of the currency..."
A quest for the reasons to get involved in Syria, and the possible true agenda of our foreign policy.
Fatalistic
poetry, drive byes, latino, gangs, street fighting, urban hood, culture
Barrett Brown's Judge - A Look At The Man Beneath The Robe
A look at the conflicts of interest surrounding the federal criminal case against journalist Barrett Brown.
The
American Right has declared war on the poor and children demanding
large cuts in Head Start, the WIC program and making it more difficult
and sometimes impossible for the working poor to make ends meet by
attempting to block minimum wage increases. Minimum wage is almost
always set well below the poverty line, does that make any sense to you?
The
recent announcement that the U.S. government would find the money for a
punitive bombing mission, because it is an urgent priority, shows
what's wrong with our governmental leadership today. Money for bombs
instead of fighting poverty? That's ridiculous! Take a quick stroll
down memory lane for a refresher course on important world events.
2013 Sierra Club John Muir Award Accepted on Behalf of Fallen Environmental Justice Warriors
The Sierra Club 2013 John Muir award is accepted on behalf of the many who are no longer with us but who spent their lives fighting for environmental justice.
You
won't believe it. It's about the laws and practices -- developed over
the last 15-20 years as part of the "war on drugs" and the general
encroachment of police-state tactics -- regarding what is called "civil
forfeiture." And it's about a lot more than that.
 Best News Links from the Web
President
Obama is facing two unexpected diplomatic initiatives with the United
States' biggest adversaries in the Middle East, Syria and Iran, each
fraught with opportunity and danger. After years of increasing tension
with Iran, there is talk of finding a way for it to maintain a
face-saving capacity to produce a very limited amount of nuclear fuel
while allaying fears in the United States and Israel that it could race
for a bomb.
"The
House of Representatives, voting along sharply drawn party lines,
passed a measure Friday to keep the government funded through
mid-December but eliminate funding for the new federal health law,
setting the stage for a series of high-stakes negotiations with the
Senate over debt and spending."
"Nancy
Pelosi, the top Democrat in the U.S. House, seems to believe that
Republicans don't like President Obama because they're jealous."
FAIRTEST: Pearson's History of Test Foul Ups | Diane Ravitch's blog
Genuine NEWS ABOUT EDUCATION THAT YOU FROM DIANE RAVITCH --GENUINE INFORMATION ABOUT EDUCATION THAT YOU CAN TRUST; FAIRTEST has warned about the misuse of standardized testing for years. As an organization, it serves an invaluable purpose and exists on a shoe string. It should be funded by Gates, Broad, and Walton. Instead it is funded by you. Here is FAIRTEST's chronology of Pearson's testing errors over the years. PEARSON'S HISTORY OF TESTING PROBLEMS"
Bashar
al-Assad's recent media blitz took a surprising turn on Tuesday morning
when the Syrian president's office announced he'd sat down for a
"television dialogue" with his old pal Dennis Kucinich, the former House
member turned Fox News contributor. Assad also took some subtle shots
at President Obama, urging him to "Listen to your people; follow the
common sense of your people." He added, "we never looked at the American
people as enemy," but relations between the two countries "depends on
the credibility of the administration [currently in the White House]."
Pope
Francis is warning that the Catholic Church's moral edifice might "fall
like a house of cards" if it doesn't balance its divisive rules about
abortion, gays and contraception with the greater need to make the
church a merciful, more welcoming place for all.
Crooks
& Liars bluntly implores NBC News to remind Chuck Todd & David
Gregory what Rachel Maddow already knows: the job of a journalist is to
inform the public, not be a stenographer.
A Ghastly Ritual Repeats Itself - NYTimes.com
The notion that the world is more dangerous than it used to be and you can be kept safe only with more guns is a linchpin of the N.R.A. argument :" But, according to the report from the Institute of Medicine.. there were about 300,000 violent crimes involving firearms in 2008. However, the estimated range of defensive uses of firearms ranged from 108,000 to more than three million. The National Institutes of Health granted only three major research awards to study the epidemic. By comparison, there were just 400 cases of cholera in America during that period, but the N.I.H. awarded 212 major research awards to study the disease. Congress discourages serious study of this issue."The Appropriations Act governing NIH and CDC funding states: "None of the funds made available in this title may be used, in whole or in part, to advocate or promote gun control.' "
A
Texas appellate court has overturned the conviction of former House
Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) for allegedly scheming to influence
Texas state elections with corporate money. DeLay, 66, was convicted in
2010 for allegedly trying to influence Texas elections by funneling
corporate money to various candidates. DeLay was sentenced to three
years in prison, but has remained a free man while awaiting appeal
rulings.
The March to Anarchy - NYTimes.com
"By choosing repeal as their live-or-die issue, Republicans are driving straight toward the brink and removing the brake pedal....What is worse, the House leadership also announced plans to make a series of demands of the White House in exchange for raising the debt ceiling in mid-October, threatening a government default if they don't get their way. The demands, announced by the majority leader, Eric Cantor, are a goodie-bag of Republican priorities: approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline, delaying health reform by a year, and changing the tax code in ways that will undoubtedly benefit corporations and the wealthy." As a political statement, this plan illuminates the chaotic state of the Republican Party. Mr. Boehner is playing the dangerous game of trying to placate the extremists for a few days" giving "free rein to his party's worst impulses." |
